Manchester City 3-0 Wolves: 5 Talking Points as Erling Haaland moves to 25 goals for the season | Premier League 2022-23

Manchester City eased past Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, January 22.

Wolves were quite resilient at the back in the opening phase of the game and were happy to sit back and defend. Erling Haaland broke the deadlock close to the half-time mark as he latched onto a perfect cross from Kevin De Bruyne. Manchester City looked more rampant following the opener. The Norwegian doubled his side's advantage from the penalty spot after Ilkay Gundogan was fouled by Ruben Neves in the box.

Wolves lost all composure following the second goal. Jose Sa made a massive blunder as his pass was intercepted by Riyad Mahrez down the line who selflessly set up one for Haaland to tap one in into an empty for Manchester City's third goal of the game.

FULL-TIME | A win against Wolves! 💪

🔵 3-0 🐺 #ManCity https://t.co/3I0HuYANry

On that note, here's a look at the five biggest talking points from the game:

#5 Riyad Mahrez continues his red hot form

Riyad Mahrez seems to be a whole different player following the resumption of domestic football post the World Cup. The Algerian international dazzled on the right wing yet again and selflessly set up Erling Haaland for his third of the evening.

Mahrez now has six goals and three assists in eight appearances post the World Cup. The 31-year-old seems to be in the form of his life and City are reaping the benefits.

Riyad Mahrez since football returned after the World Cup:

◎ 8 games
◉ 6 goals
◉ 3 assists

He needed that rest. 😀 https://t.co/V7FYuf2iff

#4 Refeering was a big question

The officiating was questionable throughout the game, to say the least. David Coote made some debatable calls which could be contested by either side. Cards were shown for the smallest of things and play was disrupted on multiple occasions.

Rico Lewis was involved in an incident that could have had him sent off, but Coote gave a free-kick the other way instead of penalizing the youngster. Julen Lopetegui was also shown a card for his protests. Jack Grealish too had a penalty call shoved off when Nathan Collins caught him with a trailing challenge. But Coote and VAR official Darren England both thought otherwise.

#3 Wolves were a no-show for the Cityzens

Wolves were nowhere close to the level of Manchester City. The visitors failed to get a single touch inside the opponents' box. Whereas, Manchester City were breaching their back-line at will.

Julen Lopetegui was quick to make changes following the restart. He introduced Joao Moutinho, Matheus Cunha and Pablo Sarabia, who went on to replace Hee-Chan Hwang, Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez. But all these substitutes failed to revive the squad as Manchester City remained rampant.

#2 Kevin De Bruyne with another classy performance

Kevin De Bruyne put up a fine display against Wolves. He brilliantly set up the opening goal of the game. He has now provided the highest number of assists this season as he took his tally to 16 following an impressive outing against Wolves. Out of those 16 assists, seven have been for Erling Haaland.

The Belgian won two duels, made four recoveries, completed one dribble, made one clearance and created three chances throughout his stay on the pitch. He was taken off in the 77th minute of the game in favor of Bernardo Silva.

16 - Kevin De Bruyne has provided more assists in all competitions this season than any other player in Europe's top five leagues (16), with seven of these assists resulting in Erling Haaland goals. Blueprint. https://t.co/fpMKWpiRYk

#1 Erling Haaland was on fire for Manchester City

Erling Haaland scored another hat-trick for Manchester City. The Norwegian international has scored four hat-tricks in his debut Premier League season. In the process, he took his tally to 25 goals in the league.

Haaland has already surpassed the tally of last season's Premier League Golden Boot winners. He put in a mighty performance and had the Wolves back-line under tremendous pressure throughout. The 22-year-old had four attempts on goal with all on target. All in all, a perfect number nine display by the striker.

Erling Haaland's game by numbers vs. Wolves:

100% shot accuracy
100% duels won
6 touches in opp. box
4 shots on target
4 duels won
3 goals
2 fouls won
1.39 xG

19 Premier League games, 25 goals, four hat-tricks. 🤖 https://t.co/iXkEPsfpbh